


A Contract of Sorts

by KnifeBinaryPrince



Series: A Perfect Fit of God and Man [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Black Pidge (Voltron), Blood, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POC Pidge (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), broganes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-09-29 20:45:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10143677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnifeBinaryPrince/pseuds/KnifeBinaryPrince
Summary: Only Lance would end up forging a contract with a god. I mean, he didn't have much of a choice, but at least they're not hell bent on universal domination. That's a plus at least.





	1. A Mutual Agreement

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to make that one picture I drew into a fic so prepare for a lot of Lance appreciation and bad ass moments.

Blue eyes snapped open to endless stars, gaseous spreads of pinks and purples stretching across the sky as far as the eye could see.

Lance sat up, yelling as the dark spread of stars continued on under him like a beautiful abyss. He took a moment to calm himself, looking around and trying to remember...remember what?

"You died."

His head snapped up, coming face to face with...something. It was a mix of blues, it's body wrapped in what appeared to black tendrils of nothing that moved and curled around every part of it, whatever wasn't covered showed it's bones or actual body to be blue and glowing, the soft light pulsing almost like a heartbeat, but too slow and gentle to actually be one. It had four glowing blue eyes, and what might've been horns emerging from its head, but the moved gently in the air as if there was a wind present, of which there were none. It had no mouth, but the voice was vast and gentle, reminding him of his mother or his sisters when they weren't feeling particularly evil that day.

"I'm a who or they, not a thing." They said, sounding cheeky.

"Oh...uh sorry."

"That's fine, I'm just letting you know, and letting it slide since we'll, you're dead and all."

"I am?" Lance said, voice small as he let the words sink in.

"Well, not yet, I mean you are kind of dying, well not kind of you are dying but you're not dead yet. And the fact that you're here means some higher power brought you here for a reason, so I assume you have someone outside of here that cares a lot about your well being." They answered, hovering closer to get a better look.

"You're human aren't you? And a paladin of this Voltron I've been hearing about too yes?"

"Um...yeah, but how did-" They pointed to the paladin armor he was wearing, which now sported a dark, almost black spot on his stomach area. He touched it gingerly, snatching his hand away when images of red splatters and blue screens crossed his mind.

"Excellent!" They beamed, spinning excitedly through the air.

"You're perfect!"

"Perfect for what?" Lance asked, forgetting the images and spot adorning his armor for a moment to look at them, squinting against the bright blue glow they were emitting in the midst of their apparent happiness.

"I've been wanting to forge a contract with a human for ages, but you all are hard to find through time and space, it's not like I can really talk to anyone to get directions to your planet, if you guys even have one that is. Honestly humans are a rarity but lucky for me I found you! Or, well lucky for you I should say."

Lance looked on the erratic display with confusion. "I'm sorry, I'm really confused here, what's happening? How am I dying? And what are you and this contract you keep going on about?"

"Oh, oops! Sorry! I tend to get carried away sometimes." They apologized, settling them self across from Lance in a cross legged position.

"I'm what you would call..." They wore a puzzled expression on their face from what Lance could tell, which was pretty impressive since they didn't really have many parts on their face to express themselves.

"Sorry, I don't think there's an accurate word for my kind in your tongue."

"Can you at least describe what your kind is?"

"Let me see, we were one of the first beings in the universe I know that much, conquering and challenging the very realms of time and space, exploring every inch of this eternal abyss of stars we call our home, the very galaxies you've probably seen so far are the result of our travels."

"So you're like a god?" Lance questioned, seeing whatever this being was brighten, literally brighten as it made the connection.

"Yes! Exactly! More or less a god by your standards."

" And these contracts you've mentioned?"

"Oh yes! The contracts! Well even if we are technically gods we don't really have physical forms to go by, so in order to be able to really explore the very world's we built we began forging contracts with any beings we could. And a contract essentially is us just taking a ride in the back seat while you do whatever it is you tiny cute humans do. And in return we usually help with whatever it is you need help with provided it benefits us as well. A somewhat symbiotic relationship if you will."

Lance nodded, taking in the information. "What does any of this have to do with me?"

"I want to forge a contract with you. I feel like you're the most qualified for the job, and you're something new since I've never made a contract with a human before. And you're a paladin of Voltron so you pretty much go to multiple universes in the galaxy anyway. Plus I know this might seem somewhat shady to you seeing as how you're dying and all that." They waved a hand in the air towards the general area and never ending abyss of stars.

"But I'm really sure we can make this work, and on the plus side you'll be on the not dying side of the living spectrum if you agree, and it's not like I can just possess your body on the whim, there does have to be a mutual agreement or else it won't work out as good as it would have if it was mutually agreed upon and both parties could end up dying and creating a black hole in its place but since I'm not necessarily doing that we have nothing to worry about. So what do you say?"

Lance sat quietly, thinking it over, as if he even had to. He wasn't ready to die yet.

"Alright, I'll do it, I'll forge a contract with you." Lance confirmed, watching as whoever this was flitted from place to place in bright flashes of blue light.

"Good choice! I promise you won't regret this!" They said.

And the world went dark.  



	2. Stay With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what I'm doing and I'm two chapters in this so have some angst and very low key pining.

Lance awoke to a blinding white hot pain that ran like electric currents through his whole body. His face felt sticky and wet, his helmet cover was currently on, specks of something dark obscuring his vision.

His whole body felt like it was on fire, every little movement painful and stiff. There was a ringing in his ears that sounded loud through his mind, causing a head splitting headache behind his eyes.

Lance struggled to open his eyes, almost wishing he hadn't as he got a good look at the damage around him.

Blue was eerily quiet, and from what he could tell she was definitely offline. If the spear like objects that pierced straight through the cockpit and into the control panels were anything to go by.

And one of them was...

Okay that didn't look anywhere in the realm of good.

_"You're telling me."_

Okay so they were still here.

_"Of course I'm still here, we have a contract remember? And besides it wouldn't do any good if I was anywhere but where you were, that would defeat the whole purpose."_

"I guess." Lance said, coughing and wincing as the action aggravated the injury further.

_"You need to stay still, I know next to nothing about human biology but I'm pretty sure having that through your stomach or leg isn't good."_

"You think?" Lance gritted out, blood coating his teeth and mouth, everything smelling and tasting like copper.

He laid his head back, trying to control his breathing, his lungs burning and protesting against the action. He barely even registered the concerned voices that sounded muddled in the background.

***

"Lance? Lance! Answer me damnit!"

"Pidge language, Allura do you have a location on the Blue lion?" Shiro asked, trying to hear past the concerned bickering regarding Lance's whereabouts.

"I have a lock on his location, he's not too far away from you all but if he's not answering that doesn't bode well." She answered, her expression pinched when her readings showed that the Blue lion was offline.

"Keith your the fastest, you can go get him right?" Hunk asked, voice full of concern for his best friend.

"Yeah sure, whatever. The idiot probably got lost or something."

Keith piloted the Red lion towards Lance's location.

"Hey cargo pilot, why aren't you answer- shit, shit, fuck." He cursed, as he neared the Blue lion, which was looking more like a pin cushion than anything.

"What?!"

"What is it?"

"Is Lance okay?"

Keith ignored them, opting instead to leave his lion when it was close enough. He opened the hatch of the Blue lion, falling inside with relative ease. He slipped when the hatch closed. Finding himself in a puddle of some sort, of what it was hard to tell.

He didn't really have to wonder when he looked towards the pilot seat.

Apparently whatever spears the most recently deceased robeast had was enough to pierce straight through the Blue lion, and through its pilot as well, running straight through the chair and into the floor, with maybe four or five others scattered about. A dark liquid stained the back of the chair, the liquid running from the point where the spear ran straight through it and into the floor where he was standing.

Keith walked towards him, foot slipping through what was no doubt blood and a lot of it. He almost threw up when he reached the front of the seat.

"Shiro, we need to get Lance to a healing pod, like right now." He said shakily, gripping his Bayard in his hand until his very bones hurt. One sof the spears had pierced through the control panel, run-through Lance's stomach in the process, causing his armor to stain darkly. Another one, smaller than the first had gone through his right thigh, leaving him pinned effectively in place.

"What's wrong? Is Lance hurt badly? Why won't he answer?" Pidge prodded, their concern turning into full blown panic at this point.

The control panel flickered as Pidge tried to establish a connection. Keith didn't let it happen, cutting his Bayard so deep into the panel his knuckles were scraped and bleeding from the torn metal.

"Allura-"

"I'm already there Shiro, get the Blue Lion aboard immediately, me and Coran will have a healing pod ready by then."

"Got it Princess, you heard her guys, let's hurry it up and get Lance back asap."

Keith gripped the chair beside him as the Blue lion lurched, seeing Red and Yellow on both sides as they worked to bring Lance back to the castle.

He heard a groan and nearly got whiplash from how fast he turned, watching as Lance's head turned towards him, the light from his helmet showing the blue paladin's visor darkened with blood.

"K-Keith?"

"Hey Lance, Coran and Allura are getting a healing pod ready for you, it'll be hard but try not to talk okay?"

Lance laughed, or at least he thought he did, he kind of freaked out when all he heard was garbled sounds as more blood came up.

"I really must be dead if your cracking jokes, that and the fact that I really can't feel anything." Lance mused, voice soft and words slurred together a bit near the end.

"Hey, come on now you need to stay awake we're almost there."

Lance sluggishly opened his eyes, looking towards Keith as the lion lurched again, causing him to hiss as a new wave of pain cut through the numbness.

He gave a garbled chuckle as Keith proceeded to fuss over him, holding his face to try and get him to focus his eyes on something. Lance chose his face, or tried to. Everything was out of focus and liked to switch from crystal clear to underwater in a heartbeat.

"You know, it's really unfair how you're this pretty even in terrible lighting." Lance slurred, eyes closing shut as the lions touched down in the castle's hangar.

"Lance?! Lance!, Shiro!" Keith yelled, panicking as the older ran into the cockpit, cursing as he saw all the blood.

Everything after that was pretty much a blur. He remembers Shiro having to melt each of the bars, remembers the sick, squelching noise as he pulled Lance's body off of the seat, the smell of burning flesh as Shiro cautererized the wounds, the sounds of Pidge yelling as Hunk kept them from seeing as Lance was carried quickly to the healing pod, how Allura and Coran faces turned into ones of alarm as they viewed the blue paladin's broken and bleeding body.

He remembers clearly though, how white both his knuckles were as he stood alone in the hangar gripping both red and blue bayards in a vice like grip, blood coating his hands.


	3. Barely There Beat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets some time to get to know the being possessing his body and Allura is concerned about Lance's condition and shares it with the team.

He was back in the darkness, albeit more black and blue than normal, tendrils of black curling upwards like giant pillars, a blue essence wrapped and glowing inside of them. The vast space pulsed gently with a blue glow, little embers of blue and black floating through the air, cool to the touch as they landed on his skin.

"You really should stop almost dying all over the place, barely an hour into this whole contract we have going on and I can't even do anything yet."

Lance looked around him, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.

"You can't look for something you haven't lost, I'm still here."

"Then where?" Lance faltered.

"Your standing on me technically, inside me essentially."

He scrambled to stand up, lifting his feet.

"Let me rephrase so you don't freak out, since that'll only.make things worse. We are currently in your mind, but in one of a few empty spaces that I've made my little home in. Which let me tell you finding space in your head is next to impossible, considering the giant blue gal has taken up most of it next to that one boy so this was pretty much take it or lose it kind of deal." They said, materializing out of thin air more for his benefit than anything.

"So we're in my head right now?" Lance asked quietly, blue eyes looking up at them with an expression they couldn't read.

They nodded, "Yeah, a small part of it bit yeah, I honestly can't wait to take a look around, your head from what I can feel holds a lot of fun stuff for me to poke around in."

"I'd much rather you not...poke around in my head that is."

"You're mistaken, I can't necessarily poke around in it as much as take a glance. For me to actually go through your head I'd need your permission per contract terms, the most I can do right now is just glance at it like an ad in the paper."

Lance nodded, but pinched his brow as he thought about what they had said.

"How do you know about ads and papers? You said you've never been to Earth or made a contract with another human before."

They floated over next to him, gesturing for him to follow. He walked carefully next to them, the tendrils around them moving out of the way.

"Like I said, I can only take glances since that's as much as I can see without your permission. Besides your the first human I've made a contract with and a paladin of Voltron no less! So that pretty much means a front row seat in all this excitement I've been hearing so much about. And I'd hate to ruin that over boundaries and all."

"Okay...but if I'm here where's my body?"

They brightened up at that, so much so that Lance had to squint.

"Your body is currently in a healing pod! And so far you're pretty much stable, at this point I'm working on keeping you breathing and keeping one of your lungs from collapsing and losing your leg but other than that you're doing great!" They said, giving Lance a thumbs up and what he thought they considered a smile.

"Yeah, I'm doing stellar."

"Don't fret, you can pass the time in here until your better. If you want I can even answer any questions you have about the universe while we're at it!"

Lance proceeded to sit down, startling himself when he actually came into contact with a makeshift chair of tendrils and hard, glowing light blue...glass?

He shook his head, turning to look at whatever they were as they floated aimlessly through the air.

"What's your name?"

"I give you a chance to ask any question about the universe and you ask me what my name is, I'm flattered! I've never had anyone ask me that before!" They said, voice getting excited.

The blue paladin smiled at their obvious glee, watching in awe as bright blue crystals sprung up from the ground, one nearly catching his leg in the process.

"Whoops, sorry about that! Crystals usually start sprouting up when I get excited! And to answer your question me and my kind don't really have names, we're so scattered about we kind of just don't interact, and if by the chance we do there's really no need for names considering we know that anyone besides us isn't really us so what's the point?"

"What about your friends? Or family?"

The hummed in thought for a moment, "We...don't really have a family in the sense that you humans seem to, we just exist, and any friends we do make we usually stick together for awhile so it's only the two of us and again there's really no need for names when it's just one other person with you."

The blue glow throughout the vast space dimmed considerably after those last few words were spoken, the amount of black embers grew as well, looking like snow as they fell to the ground which had turned completely black.

They stood where they were in front of Lance, all eyes focused on the ground, a clawed hand clutching at their other arm with seemingly bruising force...that is if they could even bruise or get injured.

"Hey."

All eyes flitted to Lance as he spoke, his voice small and soft as if talking to a child. They should've found it patronizing considering the way they acted but it brought a certain comfort knowing someone cared enough to be careful of the way they spoke, especially since they were just a contract.

"Would you like if I gave you a name instead? I really don't want to refer to a god as a thing for the entirety of the time that I know them, that just seems rude and all and my mother did teach me better than that."

They brightened at that, the glow returning to normal and blue embers resuming the black that fell and swooped through the air.

"Yeah, she did. And...I'd like that alot!"

"Good...now what kind of name do you want?"

"Whichever one you deem fitting for me, I'm not too picky."

"Okay um..." Lance tapped a finger on his knee idly, making small sounds as he thought about it.

"Okay, what about Orelias?"

"Orelias...I like it! Sounds fancy what's it from?"

"It's a mix of the word Oreo and Goliath, my cat, he ate one when he was a kitten and my grandmother nearly called the local priest when he started throwing up black stuff."

"That sounds like it was pretty exciting. Also what's a cat?"

***

Allura's face stood stern as she and Coran looked over the vitals for Lance. Everyone else was gathered around the pod except for Keith, who was either in the training room or his personal quarters. Allura didn't really give any thought to his whereabouts at the moment, focusing her attentions on the Blue paladin and his readings.

"He shouldn't be alive." She murmured quietly, but not quietly enough as the other paladins turned towards her.

"So we got to him just in time r-right?" Pidge stuttered, eyes red rimmed and glassy wet with tears.

"Yes...and no."

"How so Princess?" Shiro asked, walking over to stand next to her, viewing the readings for his own inspection.

"We got to him in time, but I'm not sure how, he barely has enough blood in his body for his heart to even beat right now. Lance should have been dead long before we even noticed he had gone quiet given his injuries."

"Maybe we were just lucky?" Hunk offered, leaning away from against the pod where he was sitting.

"Maybe..." She shared a look with Coran, who only shrugged in response.

"Either way I'm grateful we got to him when we did, don't stay up too late paladins, Lance wouldn't want you all to run yourselves ragged on account of him."

Pidge rolled their eyes, "Tell that to Keith."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in a day?! You know what that means!!!
> 
> //drops off the face of the earth for 6 months


	4. Only Cry For The Dead And Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Broganes and it turns out gods are literal cats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea what I'm doing and I was wary to write the scene between Keith and Shiro because this fandom has ruined their whole relationship for me but whatever, have some Broganes and more god shenanigans.

Keith started another level of the training sequence, every muscle in his body straining and burning from the effort and energy. He focused all of his attention on the training bot, not even noticing when Shiro had entered the room until he called for the training sequence to end.

He crossed the room over towards Keith, who by now was breathing heavily, lungs burning for oxygen.

"Keith, we need to talk." Shiro stated, watching as Keith deactivated his bayard, placing it on the bench before grabbing a pouch to drink.

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Besides you coming here to train right after we brought Lance in for almost three hours straight with no break."

"I took breaks."

Shiro laid a hand on Keith's shoulder. "Landing on the floor for a solid two seconds after the training bot handed you your ass doesn't count and you know it." Shiro said, the emotional and physical wear of the day thinning his patience.

Keith shrugged his hand off, walking past to start the next level of training. Even with the present soreness and burning of his muscles.

"Keith."

"I don't want to talk about it Shiro, drop it."

"Keith-" It was then Shiro noticed Lance's bayard off to the side with the rest of Keith's things. The handle covered in blood. And he knew for a fact the it wasn't Keith's.

"Allura said Lance will pull through...you know that right? he's gonna be okay." Shiro said, voice soft.

Keith stood still, unmoving and silent in a way that made Shiro uneasy.

"It's my fault."

"Keith what-"

"I left him."

"Keith what are you talking about?" Shiro asked, confused and lost.

"I left him to help Hunk during battle, it's my fault he's hurt."

"Keith..."

"You heard Allura Shiro, he should have been dead long before anyone noticed he had even gone quiet." Keith choked out, visibly shaking at this point. Shiro glanced over to the pile of Keith's stuff, seeing his helmet and closing his eyes when he realized Pidge hadn't put their armor up yet or turned off the comm in their helmet.

"Keith it wasn't your fault, you're not the one who put him in that healing pod, the Empire did. You're not the one to blame for this." Shiro explained, now only an arm's length from Keith, who was still shaking, shoulders trembling as he tried to stifle his incoming sobs. It wasn't until he was wrapped in familiar arms that he'd gone in for comfort since he was a kid that he actually let the tears fall.

Shiro shushed him quietly, rocking slightly from side to side like he used to do when they were little and everything became too much to handle alone.

The sobs stifled into quiet sniffles as the minutes passed and Keith pulled away just enough for Shiro to leave a hand on his shoulder.

Keith wiped the tears from his face with his hand, trying to at least look like he hadn't just cried his heart out.

"Go take a nap, you need it." Shiro demanded, voice soft but firm.

Keith must have been so out of it that he just agreed, going over to collect his things and head for his room in silence.

If Shiro noticed how he also grabbed the blue bayard and was currently gripping it like a lifeline he didn't care to mention it.

***

"Why did it get cold all of a sudden?" Lance asked, clutching his arms and rubbing himself in a futile attempt to rid himself of the sudden chill.

Orelias froze, standing still as the dead with eyes closed after he had asked.

"Um...Orelias? you okay-" If anyone asks he would deny until the day he died that he screamed when they suddenly appeared before his face, blue eyes bright and glowing.

"It seems you're in more critical condition than I first thought. The properties of the healing pod are affecting your mind as well."

"What do you mean?"

"It's too complicated to explain in the terms I know, you'll just get a headache, especially since most of the terms I have for it are in a whole new language and I'm pretty sure you don't want to go through another scenario like that so to keep it simple, what affects your body ends up affecting your mind." They said, floating to a branched off portion of one of the columns that rose from the ground to the starry blackness that was supposed to be the ceiling Lance guessed.

Lance's brow creased in confusion, " I thought it was the other way around? You know, mind affecting the body and all that?"

"That's the simplest way I can explain it, if I gave you the full explanation you wouldn't know what I was talking about anyway." Orelias said shrugging their shoulders.

Lance nodded, moving to sit on the ground and almost falling when another seat like the last one appeared below him. Okay, so no sitting on the ground then.

Lance took another moment to take in his surroundings, admiring the gentle blue that emanated from everything around him, how the tendrils from the columns curled and twisted in arcs, how the abysmal black ground seemed to ooze black ink that never really stuck to his feet, and how the "ashes" that fell from the starry blackness overhead.

"This place is weird." Lance said.

Orelias rolled on on their branch, hanging from it like those kittens in the motivational posters, kicking their legs idly back and forth.

"Good weird though right?"

He looked up at them, craning his neck to see Orelias still hanging, now swinging side to side like there wasn't anything remotely concerning about being up that high with not even half of your upper body on the branch to keep you from falling.

He found himself smiling, "Yeah, the good kind of weird."

Their horns curled upwards to form arcs as everything around them glowed a happy blue color, even the ashes fell to the ground in wispy little flurries, almost like snow.

Lance doesn't think this is too bad, compared to other ideas he's had in the past and choices he made, this one seems the less dangerous of the lot so to speak.

And besides, Orelias was kinda cute, like a cat. Except with four eyes, no mouth and glowed blue all the time.

But other than that yeah, this was probably the best decision he made this month.

 


	5. Just a Peek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little wandering from our favorite god uncovers some things left in the dark, unknown to most.

Orelias exited the mind space, leaving Lance to "sleep" if you could call it that, which was nothing more then letting him clear his mind and let it go blank.

She floated through the many corridors of the castle unseen to the naked eye, even the mice couldn't sense them, the small things playing and scurrying through the vents overhead.

When she had left the healing pod no one was waiting, but she sensed they would be back, as the energy left was still warm and crackling against their skin. Orelias had never been on a ship like this one before, other warships and basic cargo ships but never anything like this. They don't remember ever having a contract with an Altean, then again time passed so quick when you were without a contract for them that they could've missed the whole species. And from the lingering emotions that clung to the cold metal walls they just did.

They ended up in the kitchen, where two of the paladins were, Hunk and Pidge their mind supplied, remembering catching a few glimpses of them both while skimming through any memories Lance's mind would unconsciously allow.

They left them both to their own devices and moved on, floating through more corridors and making a few more turns until they made it down to the paladin's rooms, stopping abruptly when a tidal wave of emotions hit them head on, freezing Orelias in their tracks. Now this...this was interesting. They passed through the door with ease, phasing through like it was nothing. Their gaze fell to a body on the bed, the form still breathing albeit a bit more heavily and closed up than what they supposed was normal.

The room wasn't too big, but not that small either, the places where little trinkets could fit they were placed; souvenirs from different places and multiple photographs of said planets littering the walls. Without even needing to check Orelias knew this was Lance's room, something homey that just emanated his aura perfectly. Now, the better question here though, who was in the bed if Lance was definitely not?

Orelias slowly made their way over, spotting the human with dark hair and oddly pale skin, sleeping soundly even with ragged breaths. Their eyes were red and their cheeks were mussed with dried tear streaks and...oh, they looked quite familiar actually. A flash of multiple images ran through their mind, all from Lance, all of this one human here, the red paladin they gathered. And my my, didn't they show up a lot while they sifted through Lance's memories, little glimpses showing this human Keith back on Earth at the Garrison, different times of day at different places, each of the backgrounds too blurry to make out, as if the one looking didn't care for the scenery, just the one person in their view that came into focus perfectly.

How interesting, Orelias would have to ask Lance about the abundance of memories with this Keith in them later.

They froze as Keith shifted, hugging what appeared to be a jacket close to his face, using it as a pillow, while a weapon? Of some sort was gripped in his right hand, blue in color with his knuckles white as bone. Now that they weren't distracted by the memories Orelias noticed the fear and worry this one emitted was in large waves, filling the whole room to the point where it even had them, a god, on edge.

Now why would this Keith be here, in Lance's room with his aura as worrying as this? From what they could tell from Lance's memories this Keith didn't seem to care for him all that much if at all.

A small peek wouldn't hurt...would it?

Orelias made their way closer, placing a hand on Keith's head, barely causing the dark strands to even shift in place with movement.

When they tried to take a glance the first time they were met with resistance. A barrage of red anger that growled ferociously. Orelias didn't even flinch, breaking through that barrier with relative ease and shifting through the red paladin's memories, small glimpses here and there, most focused on Lance, those memories were tinged with a warm, soft aura, something that reminded them of...oh.

They backed away, done looking through memories for the day, leaving just the way they came, silent and careful, going back to reside in Lance's mind until he was fully healed, which would take more time than they were willing to wait. Luckily Orelias knew just how to speed up the healing process to their favor.

***

The next morning had the paladins all at the table for breakfast, save for Lance for obvious reasons and Keith, who Shiro volunteered to go find, already having an inkling at where he could be when Allura said he wasn't present in his room currently.

Shiro stood in front of Lance's room door, giving it a few small knocks before entering, finding Keith exactly where he thought he would, sprawled on his stomach in the bed and under a blanket, with Lance's jacket pillowed under his head, the blue bayard still gripped tightly in his hand since he last saw it.

He walked over slowly, the bed dipping with his weight as he sat down on it, running a hand through Keith's hair as he tried to wake him.

A few sleepy grumbles broke through, Keith rubbing his face further into Lance's jacket as he tried to go back to sleep.

"Keith buddy, come on its time to wake up, the others are already at breakfast and they're waiting for you." Shiro said, watching as Keith finally opened his considerably less redder eyes to look at him.

"Not hungry." He mumbled, turning his head out of Shiro's hand.

"Keith come on, you need to eat something." Shiro pleaded.

"Not hungry." He repeated, curling up on his side with his back facing Shiro.

Shiro sighed, finally relenting. "If you're hungry later just come down and get a plate okay?"

He heard a grunt of acknowledgment from the lump on the bed and took it as a yes before he left, thinking it better to give Keith some space, especially now, with him blaming himself for Lance's current condition.

"Shiro?!" Allura said, sounding panicked and alarmed over the comms.

"Yes princess? What's wrong?!" Shiro responded, heading towards the dining area where he last saw her.

"Come down to the med bay, it's Lance, he's waking up but it's way too early!" She said, her breaths shallow and in a full blown panic for her paladin.

"I'm on my way."

**Author's Note:**

> As usual any mistakes you see please let me know.


End file.
